Knitted fabric



F. L. AIBEL KNITTED FABRIC Feb. 2, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Oct.' 24,1951 f f. 4, r ,l ...Ril

INVENToR. FREDRIC L. AIBEI.

ATTORNEY Feb. 2, 1954 F. L.. AlBr-:L 2,667,775

KNITTED FABRIC Filed oct. 24, 1951 2 sheets-sheet 2 E S INVENToR.

FREDRIC L. AIBEL ATTORNY Patented Feb. 2, 1954 UNITED STATES OFFICEKNITTED FABRIC Fredi-ic L. Aibel, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Applica-tion october 24, 1951, serial No. 252,913

(o1. cfs-195) 7 Claims. 1

This invention relates to knitted fabrics of mesh formation and of netcharacteristics having a lace-like appearance.

Net fabrics have until comparatively recently been made exclusively onspecial lace or bobbinnet machines. Because of the high labor costentailed in the operation of such machines, their use has generally beenconned to countries where Wages are relatively low; and they wereaccordingly not generally commercially used in the United States.

Attempts have been made to produce on knitting machines nettingsimulating the product of net machines, because of the lower operatingcost of conventionalxknitting machines. While this has resulted in somesuccess in the production, in this country, of knitted fabrics with meshcharacteristics, the disadvantages of the knitting methods employedl inthis connection have been suiiiciently serious las not to enable thenetting produced thereby Ato be commercially competitive with theproducts of the lace machines, either from a cost or a structuralviewpoint.

T wo lgeneral knitting methods haveheretofore `been employed intheproduction of netting simulating the products of bobbin-net lacemachines. One method employs half-gauge knitting with two bars., eachbar knitting atevery course. The other method employs full-gauge*knitting with two bars, one bar knitting at every course, and the otherbar laying-in at every course. These methods are employedin conjunctionwith Warp or .Rashel machines, the construction of which is well'kn'ownto thosev skilled in the art.

vdisadvantages which seriously impair its commercial use. It producesonly a hexagonal mesh, whereas the conventional bobbin-net product isgenerally diamond-shaped; Vand since the, puru chasing public isaccustomed' to diamond-shaped netting, there fiso'bviously salesresistance to the hexagonal product. Furthermore, the `netting of thesaid second method is'knitted as an irregular mesh,y and assumes aregular hexagonal shape lonly when-'stretched during a subsequent`nis'hing operation, after 'the fabric is 4removed `from the machine.And in such apparatusit is .important that the back beam vtensionbeproperly set, since varied or improper tensions result in a distortedpattern that cannot possibly ',be Ymade truly hexagonal in theiinishing. Still r`another disadvantage of the v-said .second methodresides in the fact that it employs inlay threads which intermesh withand run in :zigzag fashion through the knitted stitches .of the frontbar; .and since these threads are not locked, :itl is possible to snagthe ends thereof and produce flaws .throughout .the fabric. Anotherdisadvantage of .the last-mentioned knitting method for producingnetting is that it is not effectively employable with .conventionalstop-motion devices which are sensitive to holes, and can accordinglystopknitting machines only when a holeis formed. Since in said secondmethod `an end out in the back beam makes a run rather than a hole, the.conventional stop-motion machine isineffective and frequently resultsin yards of material having runs therein.

It is primarily within the contemplation of this invention to-obviatethe use of ,lace-making machines by employing :a :warp typeofknitting machine v-to produce .affabric in which .the-basic advantagesof each of thewsaid'two prior -kni-tting methods Vare retained,A whereastheafor-es'aid shortcomings thereof are climi-nated. v Morespecifically, it is an object of my invention lto produce a relatively4Wide fabric with a maximum yards of material produced per pound ofyarn, and to enable the production selectively either of a diamondorhexagonal netting construction during the knitting process, rather thanduring the finishing process after the product is removed from themachine.

t is a further important object vof my invention to present a fabricwith uniformly shaped meshes, each containing locked threads, andwithout the danger of a snagging of the ends to produce runs or otherfabric flaws.

And it is within my contemplation to ena-ble said knitted netting to beproduced -on conventional Warp or Rashel machines, or even on mod-iiiedmachines for the production of tricot rfabric, merely by 4employingvcertain formulas 'for tw chains, in conventional manner.

`employed with yarnv being supplied 'from two bars. A pair of threads,one from each bar, is deployed between two adjacent needles according toformula.

The basic requirements for the production of the various fabrics of myinvention are: (1) that only one bar knits at any coursethe back barfloating or laying-in when the front bar knits, and the front barfloating when the back bar knits; and (2) that a pair of threads, onederived from each of the two bars, make, in the series set-up, one ormore stitches on two adjacent needles.

During the operation of a machine wherein there are the above-mentionedbasic requirements, there results a coalescence of certain stitches anda subsequent elongation of others.`

By combining stitch courses with float or inlay on both bars, there iseffected a change in length of certain stitches, that is, there is adistortion of the stitches due to the take-up action and the 'uniformtension, all in a manner to make the fabric lose knit characteristicsand assume net" characteristics. The nal fabric contains a lockedsymmetrical mesh free from irregularity, the legs of the polygonconstituting the net formation being joined together at welldefinedjunctions. The said final product is a knitted fabric which so closelyresembles a con- Ventional netting as to make the knitted structurethereof not readily discernible even to experienced knitters.

Referring to the drawings,

Figure 1 is an enlarged diagrammatic View of one form of fabricaccording to my invention, showing the formation of loop, inlay and oatelements in their theoretical undistorted and unstretched condition.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view substantially like Fig. 1, but showingthe fabric elements in their stretched condition substantially as theyappear while being knitted, the diamond-shaped mesh formations beingshown considerably enlarged.

Figure 3 is a plan view, in semi-diagrammatic form, of a portion of thecompleted fabric of theI structure shown in Fig. 2, this view beingconsiderably reduced from Fig. 2, but being larger than actual size, and

Figure 4 is an enlarged diagrammatic View, substantially like Fig. 2,but showing another form of fabric.

For illustrative purposes, the drawings show a number of vertical rowsor series of looped, iioated and laid-in yarn. In Fig. 1, for example,the rows are identified by the reference numerals I, II, III and IV, itbeing understood that a multiplicity of such rows are simultaneouslyformed during the knitting process to make the completed fabric. Twothreads are employed for forming these rows, these pairs of threadsbeing designated as A1 and B1, A2 and B2, and Aa and B3, respectively.It will here be assumed that A1, A2 and A3 are front bar threads, andB1, B2 and Bs are rear bar threads. The horizontal courses aredesignated by the reference letters, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.

During the knitting operation, the thread A1, in emerging frompreviously formed loop Ilia in course T, is formed by the front bar intothe loop Ils in course U, and at the same time the thread B1 is laid-inby the rear bar in the same course, the laid-in portion being designated|211. In the next course V, a stitching operation is formed on threadB1, to form the loop |31; and atvthe same time the thread A1 is made tooat 4 during the course, the floating portion being des-f ignated |41.Thread A1 is then knitted into the loop |53. in the course W; and at thecompletion of this course, section |6s of thread A1 is carried to row II(that is, to an adjacent needle around which it is operatively wrappedin conventional manner) and formed into loop Ils in said row II, courseX. While the last-mentioned action takes place, section |811 of yarn B1is floated and carried to row II and laid in at |911- in said row X.Thread B1 is then knitted to form the loop 20a at course Y in the samerow, while section Zl of thread A1 is floated through course Y/and thenknitted to form the loop 22a, whereafter section 2311 thereof is carriedback to row I to form loop 24a in the next adjacent course. This processis continued in subsequent courses by repeating the steps described withreference to formation of the said previously made loops, such as ila,|311 and |51 in courses U, V and W, and the oats and laid-in portions ofthe threads associated therewith. l

Similarly, yarns A2 and B2, and A3 and B3 are looped, floated andlaid-in to form the portions of the fabric comprised of rows II, IIIandIV, and as many other rows as can be formed by the needles on themachine. The loops, fioats and laid-in sections in rows II, III and IVare designated by reference numerals analogous kto their respectivecounterparts above described, whereby it will be unnecessary to repeatthe description for all the illustrated rows. Suiiice it to say thatloops |811, Hic, Hb, llc, |311, |30, |511, |511, |511, |111, |711,26311, 22e, 24h and 2de correspond to previously described loops lila,Ha, |33, |511, |111, 2da, 2211 and 24a; and that the iioats, laid-in andother sections |21, I2c, |411, idc, |611, |6c, |811, IBC, |911, |90,2lb, 2Ic, 2311 and 23e correspond to the previously described analogoussections 23., a, isa, las., '9a 2|a and 23a.

In order to readily be able to follow the intermovement of the variousthreads from the formation of loops, floats and laid-in sections to thefinal desired mesh formation, it should be borne in mind that in thestructure above described, the arrangement ofthe components of the rowsand courses illustrated in `Figure 1 is merely diagrammatic, and showsthe fabric elements in their theoretically unspread condition. Actually,during the knitting process tension is continuously being applied to thefabric elements being formed, so that there is an inter-sliding movementbetween adjacent interengaged thread sections, whereby the appearance ofthe loop, float and inlay sections is substantially like thatillustrated in Fig. 2.

More specifically, the knitting tension causes a shortening of certaininterknitted loops and a corresponding elongation of the diagonallycarried-over laps and laid-in or oat sections, as well as an elongationof adjacent loops in the same course extending from iioated yarn, therebeing accordingly pairs of elongated portions forming the four sides ofa diamond-shaped mesh configuration, and the shortened loops virtuallycoalescing into what may be regarded as knots tying together theterminals of said sides. In other words,r althoughV there isuniformtension throughout the fabric elements being knitted, there isactually a distortion of the fabric whereby it no longer resembles aknitted fabric but rather a net fabric that looks closely like theproduct of bobbin-net machines.

Thus, by referring to Fig. 2, it will be seen that in the operativelystretchednfabric containing the '5 vertical rows of wales V. VI..'.VIII. IXand X, there has been a `.eontractior.1 .of 'theloops la, 13a,and lla, 29a, for example, as Well as of the corresponding loops Hb,1.3.11, and llb, 213e., and llc, 13e, and llc, 2.0, the `contracted orcoalesced pairs of loops extending in parallel horizontal rows vsuch asrows .Rand -S the Iloops of each pair being in .adjacent parallelcourses. Between adjacent parallel pairs .of the coalesced loops.. alongrows R vand S for example, are the elongated thread portions that formthe legs V.of the said diamond formations. These elongated Yportionsare, for example, the diagonally-,carried-oyer lap section Ib and theAfloat section |81), forming one side of the diamond D; adjacent loop lon the same course forming a second side of the diamond; thediagonallyecarried-back lap section 231 and the float section 251,.forming a third. side of the diamond; and the adjacent loop 22a on thesame course forming the fourth .side of the diamond. It is apparent thatall other diamond formations are produced in the .same manner.

It Will be clarifying to note that if the arrows K, L, M and N indicatethe opposing pulls that cause tension in the respective sections |611,|51, |211 and |011, the pairs of theloops in rows `S and R arecontracted due to these pulls, Whereas the carried-over lap sections andloops, such as lap |611 and loop |51, for example, extending fromunknitted iioat |41), are elongated, together with unknitted float |81),by the .contraction of said pairs of loops. In other words, the slackcaused by the contraction of vsaid pairs of coalescing loops is taken upby thread sections that are either directly extending from or arethemselves un.- knitted laid-in or floated thread sections.

The fabric of Fig. 2 is obviously greatly enlarged. In actual size thecoalesced lockedloops are Visible only as fine juncturesfor thewell-defined sides of the diamond formations, in view of the fine denieryarns that are used for this fabric, The finished product is a lockedvsymmetrical mesh, of lace-like appearance; and the product comes offthe machine in nished shape.

In Figure 4, which shows another form of fabric according to myinvention, a plurality of pairs of threads E1 and F1 are employed, thesebeing respectively front and rear bar threads. This fabric contains thevertical rows or Wales XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI and XVII, andhorizontal rows or courses O, G, P, H and Q. Considering the threadelements that make up the diamond formation D1, for example, it Will benecessary to follow the threads in Wales XII, XIII and XIV.

Thread E1, extending through previously formed loop 2.6, is formed into`a loop 21 at course 0 in Wale XIII, and at the same time thread F1 islaid-in at 2.8. The lap 29 is then carried over as a oat to the nextadjacent Wale XIV and stitched into a loop 30. In the meantime theextension of laid-in portion 28 is formed into loop 3| which extendsdiagonally into Wale XII and interloops, at course P, With the loop 32in said last-mentioned Wale, the opposite lap 33 of loop 3| beingcarried over diagonally to Wale XIV i vention, there is a vcertain basicstructure.

.and 33 upon the operative contraction of loops 2:1

and 3L0-'to form one side ofthe diamond D1. 'It will .similarly 'benoted that the other sides 'of the diamond are formed from threads whichare either themselves iioats, or which extend Afrom floats or laid-'inportions..

It wll further be noted that in both forms of the fabric hereinillustrated, as Well .as Vin many other forms possible Within the scopeof "my in- In such basic structure there are aplurality of pairs of Warpthreads carried over from one Wale to an adjacent Wale, the two threadsof each of said pairs forming loops in each AWale at different courses,there being courses in which one of said threads is unknitted and ,notformed into loops. In such courses the said unknitted 'threads areeither floated or inlaid.

'For example, in Figure 2, the pair of threads A2 and B2 have portions16s and |8111, respectively, carried over from Wale VII to adjacent WaleVIII, portion |611 forming loop |11, in Wale VIII Aat course X, andportion 18h forming loop 23h in course Y, portion .|911 of thread B2being unlcnitted (and being laid-in) in course X, and portion 2lb ofthread Az 'being unknitted (and floating) in course Y. Similarly, inFigure 4, one of the pairs of threads `E1 and F1 have portions 29 and33, respectively, carried over from Wale XIII to Wale XIV, portion 29:forming loop 3d in Wale XIV at course P, andportion 33 being laid-in,that is, being unknitted, at said latter course. By referring A.to WaleXIII, it will also be noted that terminal loop portion 38 of portion ofan .F1 thread 'is positioned in said Wale XIII at the uppermost portion.of course H, lap 35 of .thread E1 being also disposed in course.accordingly the structure of Figure 4 conforms to the basic requirementabove mentioneol, there being a plurality of pairs of warp threads,carried over from one Wale to an adjacent Wale., .there being loopsformed by said threads in each Wale at different courses, there beingcourses in whichone of the two threads is either floated or laid in. Y

In forming the fabric of Figures 1 and 2, .the following formula isemployed:

Chain I: 20, 22, 20, .24, 22, .24 Chain III 00, 02, 00, 44., 42, 44

In the production ofthe fabric of Figure 4, the following formula isused:

Chain I: 20, Oi), 24, 44 Chain II: 00, 02, 44, 42

Other forms of fabric, as aforesaid, may be made by employing theabove-menti0ned basic structure, but employing other formulas. Forexample, to produce a fabric With hexagonal meshes, the followingformula may be employed:

Chain I: 20, 22, 22, 20, 24, 22 22, 24 Chain II: 00, l02, 20, 0i), 44,42, 24, 44

Any of the fabrics produced in accordance with my invention can bereadily fabricated by those skilled in the art; and the resulting fabricwill have a very Well-defined lace-like appearance as well as the othercharacteristics hereinabove mentioned.

In the description hereinabove given the various threads or yarns aredesignated as Warp threads since they are supplied from Warp beams. Thecarried-over and carried-back portions of the threads, such as |61, and2311 of Fig. l, are lap portions and they are herein fre- 'quentlyVdesignated as such. Although in warp knitting machines the back bar caneither float or lay-in, whereas the front bar can only oat, thefunctions of the laid-in and floated sections of the threads aresubstantially similar, in this invention, in producing the elongationsand contractions above-mentioned. And hence, since such iioats andlaid-in sections are all unknitted portions of the threads, they aredesignated in the claims, for convenience, as unknitted oats, regardlessof whether or not they are technical floats or laid-in sections.

In the above description, the invention has been disclosed merely by wayof example and in preferred manner; but obviously many variations andmodifications may be made therein. It is to be understood, therefore,that the invention is not limited to any specific form or manner ofpracticing same, except insofar as such limitations are specified in theappended claims.

I claim:

l. In a lace-like knitted fabric of substantially uniform polygonal meshformation, a plurality of pairs of warp threads formed into a pluralityof wales and courses, the two threads of each of said pairs forminginterengaged contracted loops in wales at different courses, toconstitute juncture portions of said polygonal mesh formation, one ofthe two threads of each of said pairs having oated portions in certaincourses and the other of said two threads having laid-in portions incertain other courses, a plurality of pairs of said threads extendingfrom one wale to another Wale in a single course to form sides of saidpolygonal mesh formation.

2. In a lace-like knitted fabric of substantially uniform polygonal meshformation, a plurality of pairs of warp threads formed into a pluralityof wales and courses, the two threads of each of said pairs formingloops in wales at different courses, one of the two threads of each ofsaid pairs being unknitted in certain courses and the other of said twothreads being unknitted in certain other courses, a plurality of pairsof thread sections extending diagonally from one Wale toanother andinterengaging said loops, said loops being of contracted formation andconstituting the junctures of the sides of the polygonal meshes of saidformation, said diagonally extending pairs of thread sections being ofrelatively extended length and constituting the sides of said polygonalmeshes.

3. In a lace-like knitted facric of substantially uniform diamond-shapedmesh formation, a plurality of pairs of warp threads formed into aplurality of wales and courses, the two threads of each of said pairsforming contracted loops in wales at different courses, one of the twothreads of each of said pairs being unknitted in certain courses and theother of said two threads being unknitted in certain other courses, eachdiamond-shaped mesh comprising four sides interconnected with saidcontracted loops, said sides each comprising a, pair. of threadsections, the pairs of thread sections at opposite sides of the meshcomprising, respectively, two sections of one of the said two threads,and two sections of each of the said two threads.

4. In a lace-like knitted fabric of substantially uniform polygonal meshformation, a plurality of pairs of warp threads formed into a pluralityof wales and courses, the two threads of each of said pairs formingcontracted and elongated loops at different courses, a plurality ofpairs of said threads extending from one wale to another in a. singlecourse, one thread of each of said pairs constituting knitted loops intwo successive courses, and the other thread of each of said pairsconstituting inlaid sections in said two successive courses, saidthreads which constitute said knitted loops constituting floats, andsaid other threads constituting knitted loops in the coursesrespectively preceding and following said two successive courses.

5. In a lace-like knitted fabric of substantially uniform polygonal meshformation, a plurality of pairs of warp threads formed into a pluralityof wales and courses, the two threads of each of said pairs formingcontracted and elongated loops at different courses, each loop beinginterengaged with another single loop, one thread of each of said pairsof threads forming a single elongated loop in a polygon of saidpolygonal mesh formation.

6. In a lace-like knitted fabric of substantially uniform polygonal meshformation, a plurality of pairs of warp threads formed into a pluralityof wales and courses, the two threads of each of said pairs formingcontracted and elongated loops at diierent courses, a plurality of pairsof said threads extending from one wale to an adjacent wale in a singlecourse, one thread of each of said pairs having an inlaid portion andthe other thread of each of said pairs having a floated portion in aside of a polygon of said polygonal mesh formation.

7. In a lace-like knitted fabric of substantially uniform polygonal meshformation, a plurality of pairs of warp threads formed'into a pluralityof wales and courses, the two threads of each of said pairs formingcontracted and elongated loops at different courses, the junctures ofadjacent sides each being formed from a single contracted loop.

FREDRIC L. AIBEL.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,050,120 Friedberger Jan. 14, 1913 1,139,344 Clewley May 11,1915 1,187,158 McGinley June 13, 1916 1,993,766 Welch et al Mar. 12,1935 2,403,793 Feinstein July 9, 1946

